Evening Stroll
by Rorudesu-chan
Summary: Her hands dangled from either side, carefree, proving that she was again thinking about how it would feel like if someone else became concern about her. Someone else like… Cloud. -- CloTi. ONE-SHOT. Read and Review!


**a/n: **_Hey guys! Rorudesu here. Just want everybody to know that I've decided to place the fic, "0207" on temporary hiatus. Sucks, I know. Its just that I haven't been getting any good ideas for the chapter ender for awhile. And I didn't want any bad ideas to ruin the last chapter of the fic that's why I'll wait until I can finally unknot some twisted plots of the story. So anyways, this CloTi fic was also placed on hold so I tried to continue it and luckily, here's the finished product. Tell me what you guys think of this fic, okay? :D_

**Disclaimer: **the honorable Tetsuya Nomura and his awesome team from SquareEnix owns everything Final Fantasy VII. I'm just a die-hard fan. :)

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"**EVENING STROLL"**

**by: rorudesu-chan**

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A white-bearded man that seemed to be in his mid-50s took a heavy grip of his beer mug as the chestnut brown-haired barmaid filled it to the rim with her famous Corel wine. He sipped it vigorously until the mug became half-empty. The barmaid instinctively tried to refill the customer's drink but he kindly smiled and shook his head sideways.

"No more, Ms. Tifa… Wife's waiting outside… Don't want to worry her…"

"Okay then. Thank you for coming." Tifa smiled back as she watched the old customer walk himself out of the bar after he paid her for the drink.

'_That was sweet of him. He didn't want his wife to worry about him despite the fact that he's usually drunk when he walks out here.'_

Tifa swiped the man's payment off the countertop and realized that he was the last customer of the night. At last it was closing time for the Seventh Heaven. Or so Tifa thought.

There in a lonesome corner, sat a very drunken woman whose head was buried under one arm while the other held onto a mug as if consciously asking for more wine. Recognizing that she was sound asleep, Tifa approached her and gently tried to tap her awake.

"Finally... I found her." A concerned voice startled the barmaid as she turned around to see that a man just entered and was walking towards the lady.

"Hey you… Let's get you home." The man in his leather trench coat removed the beer mug from her hand and tilted the blonde woman backwards which woke her up.

"….wha..? Oh…" The woman spoke in slurred speech as she dizzily looked at him. "…Soorrry ifff I… worrieeed youuu…"

"Nah, it's okay. You're worth it." He smiled as she gave out a soft chuckle before passing out again. The man glanced at Tifa who just looked at them. "Sorry for the trouble. Here…" He shoved his left hand into his pocket and handed Tifa 25 gil to which she accepted humbly. "No it's nothing, really…"

"Thank you for coming!" Tifa held the door open as the man scooped up the woman into his arms and left the bar. She watched as the lovers walk away into the evening. When she went back inside, she couldn't help but ask herself things that seemed to occur repeatedly for the day.

Then she remembered that just this morning, while sweeping the front of their house, she saw a young girl crying by the lamp post. But before she thought of approaching the sobbing child, her mother suddenly came running towards her. She heard a lot of things being told, but the one thing that stuck to her was how the kid made her mother worry so much.

'_I wonder how it feels like when someone worries about you…'_

Tifa knew how it felt like when you worry about someone. You're concerned about them because you really cared.

She knew this ever since she persuaded her childhood friend, Cloud, to join AVALANCHE. She did this because she cared for him. She was worried about him leaving her again, and worried about never seeing him again.

But she really didn't quite know how it felt if someone cared about you.

This was something that kept questioning Tifa as if she actually knew the answer. But how could she know when all she could remember was how she always cared about someone else?

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After making sure that the children were sound asleep, Tifa walked towards the front door and got out quietly. She realized that all this questioning was clouding her head too much so she decided that an evening stroll was a good choice to just let it all out.

Without any certainty of where to go, the ivory-skinned Lockhart let her feet do the walking. Her hazel brown eyes were pinned only on the road ahead of her, reflecting the depth of which her thoughts have engaged in. Her hands dangled from either side, carefree, proving that she was again thinking about how it would feel like if someone else became concern about her.

Someone else like… Cloud.

Tifa became really curious about this. Especially when she tried to count the number of times Cloud cared about her. True, Cloud _did _care about her. He was worried when she underwent a coma when she fell from the bridge at Mt. Nibel and he was concerned when Sephiroth hurt her badly back at the Nibelheim incident. Among the past experiences that she counted, Tifa highly noted these two.

'_He was really afraid of losing me back then.'_

She crafted a smile when she whispered this to herself. But that smile was quickly torn away by the words, _'…back then. ' _Tifa sadly recalled that that was how things were before---before he met the flower girl.

Tifa humbly admitted to herself that she was a bit jealous of Aerith. Cloud was _always _concerned about her. At first she thought he was like that because Aerith was the last Cetra therefore, having the need to be protected. But then, whenever she would think of things that way, somehow she would see something between them that was more than mere 'bodyguard' duty.

Cloud _really, really _cared for Aerith.

'_I don't hate her. I just wish he cared for me as much as he did about her.'_

This painful realization ached deeply in Tifa's heart. She wanted Cloud to care for her too but it seems as though he was too busy caring about someone else.

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A little later, Tifa found herself standing before the huge door of Aerith's church. She hesitated to come inside at first knowing that Cloud could be inside, but seeing that no Fenrir was parked outside, she decided to let herself in.

The moonlight shone beautifully upon Aerith's flower garden through an opening of the roof. It was the only light that illuminated the hollowness of the church. Tifa walked towards the garden and bent down as if giving respect to the owner for her presence. She randomly selected a yellow flower and touched its delicate petals. It was smooth and full of life just like the rest of the flowers, and it seemed as though it was tended by its owner everyday.

Still, Tifa's thoughts were punctured by the questions that kept up her curiosity. Deep inside she knew how badly she wanted Cloud to care about her and to worry for her as well. But who was she to force him? She wasn't an Ancient that needed to be guarded because the fate of the Planet rested on her very life, nor was she someone literally worth protecting because frankly, she knew how to fight and defend herself quite well.

She was just Tifa Lockhart.

'_I shouldn't be selfish. If I wanted Cloud to care about me, I could just ask…'_

Tifa chuckled to herself as she tinted her words with humor. She continued to press the flowers between her fingers as she felt the smoothness of the petals. As she did this, she felt the heaviness of her doubts be lifted from her heart. Finally after spending some time with herself, she stood up and spun around.

'_I should go home. It's late…'_

Tifa smiled as she left the church. Realizing that Cloud might not care for her as much as he did before, at least he was there by her side.

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She gazed upon the glistening pattern of the evening sky above her as she walked home. Tifa felt as if the Lifestream itself was smiling down on her. Congratulating her for realizing that there was no need for Cloud to care so much about her as much she did because, in return, Cloud would always be by her side. He would be there to comment on the silly conversations they shared, he would be there to take care of Denzel and Marlene just like what a real father would do and he would be there, simply because both of them wanted to.

As Tifa arrived home, she saw that Cloud's bike was already parked outside, informing her that he was back home from a day of delivery service. A smile shaped her lips as she happily stepped towards the door, knowing that Cloud's beatific face would give her a good night rest.

But as Tifa was about to hold the knob in her hand, the door suddenly swiveled itself open. She was startled as she saw that it was Cloud who opened it, quickly.

"Cloud…?" Tifa intensely stared at his Mako blue eyes, as she searched for an explanation as to why he looked so anxious. Cloud, who usually spoke with his eyes, told Tifa that he was troubled.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't worry, Marlene. She's home now." Cloud's voice suddenly went from a troubled tone to a calm one as he turned away from Tifa.

Tifa looked down and saw that Marlene stood behind Cloud. Her almond shaped eyes looked as if they were on the brink of crying. But the little girl believed that she was strong so she held her tears back.

"Marlene, I'm so sorry if I worried you…" Tifa approached her and bent down to meet with her sad eyes.

"Don't just leave like that, Tifa! You really had me worried. It was a good thing Denzel wasn't awake. Otherwise…"

"Don't worry, Marlene. I promise it won't happen again." Tifa exchanged Marlene's fretfulness with her sincerity. The little girl who wore a remembrance of the flower girl on her hair, finally smiled as Tifa stood up while keeping both hands on her shoulder.

"Go back to sleep, Marlene." Tifa smiled angelically as Marlene kindly nodded and hurriedly went back upstairs.

The silky haired barmaid finally felt even more at peace as she realized that that was how it felt for someone to care and worry about you. Tifa felt that she was loved and was always thought of because she was somebody important to someone else.

'_Marlene cared. That's why she was worried.'_

But as she thought that that was the answer to her hidden doubts, she realized that it wasn't over yet as she felt the presence of a person behind her. Tifa turned around and saw Cloud's face at ease. She didn't know what to say, now that she had no idea what Cloud was thinking.

"Tifa," Cloud spoke enticingly which promptly attracted Tifa's attention.

"Cloud, I'm sorry for worrying Marlene…"

"She wasn't the only one worried, Tifa."

"Hmmm. Were you worried too, Cloud?"

Silence. Silence always denoted either a 'yes' or a 'no'. But for Tifa, she would always know which was which.

"I see. I knew it because your eyes were so disturbed. I was just taking a walk outside, that's all."

Stillness once more escaped Cloud's lips. Tifa felt his eyes on her as she spoke softly.

"I've been troubled by some things, Cloud. That's why I just needed some time to think it all through. But, I'm fine now."

Again, it was quiet. But Tifa's words certainly did not fall on deaf ears. Cloud was listening. And so did his heart. He felt a sudden twist of guilt inside him, telling him that he had become too selfish. Though he loved her even with undeclared words, he always thought that he showed his concern through every day that passed by. But maybe they weren't getting to Tifa well enough. He left the house every morning to do his deliveries and came back at night to spend time with the children and also with her. And now that he thought about it, how would those things ever compare with what she has done for a very long time, for the family and for him as well?

Tifa spoke again, pulling Cloud away from his train of thoughts. "Well, if you don't have anything else to say, we should both get some sleep. You have deliveries tomorrow, right?"

The barmaid, whose doubts were half gone, spun around and whispered Cloud a good night sleep. But how else could Cloud get some good night sleep when he had something quite weighty on his chest that he needed badly to get off?

"I've been selfish. I'm sorry."

Tifa stopped in her tracks and listened to Cloud's sudden melancholic words.

"You were always the one who cared about this family. I always thought that that face you put on everyday told me that there was nothing to worry about and that everything would be fine. But now I know that you were quite troubled, Tifa."

Tifa felt a narrow smile coming onto her lips, relieved that Cloud, the dense one, finally saw through what she felt deep down. Being wary still as not to turn around, she kept an ear on what she has always wanted to hear from him.

"I hope you'll stop thinking that you were always the only one who cared. There's Marlene, Denzel and the AVALANCHE family as well. I'm also here. And I promise I will be. I've told that to you before, haven't I?"

Tifa remembered the night that she and Cloud spent together before the final battle. She remembered how he whispered into her ear that he would always care about her no matter what. She was just about to doze off that time, but she was softly startled at his out-of-the-blue promise. Nevertheless, it made her smile and it assured her of a good night sleep.

Finally, Tifa's doubts that burdened her disappeared. She felt certain and content that Cloud and her family here in Midgar also cared about her and everything else important. Her narrow smile suddenly turned into a gentle laughter which echoed within the dimly-lit house. It reflected what she felt after a long struggle of finding an answer to her restless question. Cloud, whose eyes gave a stumped look at Tifa's unexpected mirth, kept a shy smile within the darkness.

Tifa swerved only her head sideways, and spoke with much endearment. "So, are you coming to bed or what?"

Not too many words were the best reply Tifa could give. Because for the both of them, undeclared words were always reflected by actions of sweet nothing.

She walked ahead, not knowing if Cloud would respond or not. Seconds later, a soft trudge of boots on the floorboard accompanied by a whispered smirk was heard.

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**a/n: **_So was this fic okay or what? Click that __**review **__button for me please!! Thanks._


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